Alexander Zverev’s hunt for an elusive grasscourt title began with a clinical 6-2 6-1 victory over Marcos Giron in the first round of the Halle Open on Wednesday in a match interrupted by an advertising hoarding falling on spectators.

During the opening set, a section of an advertising hoarding came crashing down from the upper tier onto spectators below, forcing the chair umpire to stop play.

Zverev immediately procured an ice pack for an elderly woman who pressed it against her neck and the players waited patiently while tournament organisers scrambled to provide medical assistance.

Organisers said the 62-year-old did not suffer any major injuries and was able to leave the stadium after the initial shock, but she was taken to hospital as a precaution.

They added that drumming against the boards may have caused the screws to come loose.

“There has never been anything like this in our 32-year tournament history. We deeply regret the incident,” tournament director Ralf Weber said in a statement.

On court, Zverev finished the match with 23 winners in the 79-minute contest where Giron struggled to match the power of the German’s first serve and had no answer when his opponent’s returns found all corners of the court.

World number three Zverev, still nursing the disappointment of Sunday’s Stuttgart Open final defeat by Taylor Fritz, showed no mercy with the home fans firmly behind the towering second seed who has finished runner-up twice in Halle.

“It was a great match for me, I thought it was quite high level. Maybe he wanted to play a bit better than he did, but all in all I felt like I didn’t let him play that well, which was important for me,” Zverev said.

THUNDEROUS SERVE

Giron held his own early in the opening set with some deft touches and drop shots, but his resistance crumbled against Zverev’s thunderous serve, with the German finishing with 10 aces.

The opening set’s final game became an unexpected epic as Giron saved four set points before Zverev finally secured it after 54 minutes of play.

Any hopes of a comeback quickly evaporated as Zverev reeled off seven consecutive games to take a 3-0 lead in the second set as Giron’s shoulders slumped.

Giron’s double-fault count also increased at the wrong time and the German pounced to break before serving out the set.

“I feel like when he’s on top of the ball, when he’s allowed to play, it’s very difficult with him because he moves quite well. He can control the rally quite well, so I had to take that away,” Zverev added.

Earlier, eighth seed Karen Khachanov dispatched Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 7-5 6-3 despite a nasty fall on the grass.

Third seed Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas are in action in the last 16 later.